The Coach's Fatal Error? Taking On The Executives and the Infallible Executive Tier

Itranspired Ruben Amorim was able to withstand a loss to lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been tempting, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals are now rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, such directives hold greater authority when issued from the mouth with the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace analytics and analytics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally superior. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Above Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really creating the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

Nowadays, their job has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded overclass who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Hire the system coach and then dismiss him for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.